Featured Stories

To make things cheap, it’s often assumed that they must be produced over seas. Handsome Bicycles isn’t down with that. Since their beginnings, they knew they wanted to move production and assembly back to the US eventually. That first step is now taking place. Handsome has found a way to assemble their Fredward frames back at HQ in Minneapolis, using local mechanics, and still keep the price shy of $800 by a nickel. A very limited number will be produced for this first run, so if you want one, pre-order it now through your favorite shop or the Handsome website. While Handsome isn’t the first to accomplish this step, they are the first to do so and still keep the price down. Good on them. For full details, hit the jump for the press release.

Press Release

Handsome Cycles announces a new way of providing complete bikes to its dealers. On a very limited basis, Handsome will completely assemble and ship its Fredward Complete from our headquarters in downtown Minneapolis, MN. Handsome’s COO, Jesse Erickson says, “We feel it is in everyone’s best interest to divert some of the added value of complete bicycles back to the United States. So, we figured out a way to spec and build all of our new Fredward Complete bikes here in the US and still retail them just under $800.” This is a great first step to bringing the entire process back home. He continues, “We are striving to bring more of the value chain to the U.S. The frame is precision fabricated at our Taiwanese factory and the parts and components are sourced with quality, aesthetics and cost as the driving considerations.” Everything is quality checked, assembled, and test ridden by our crack mechanics before being slightly disassembled and boxed for its journey to our dealers. However, although Handsome isn’t the first quality bike manufacturer to move their assembly back to the U.S., they are certainly the most affordable.

The Fredward Complete

The Fredward is a quick and nimble city commuter single speed with a slightly relaxed geometry, a city sweep back bar, sealed bearing flip-flop hubs and our Mud Butler fenders stock on every bike. The frameset is our standard high quality double butted 4130 main triangle and 4130 crowned fork and rear triangle. See the full complete build specs.

Versatility and Add-ons Galore

The Fredward Complete is available in 3 sizes (52cm, 55cm, 58cm) and 2 colors (Stovepipe – (shown at top) and REDRUM – (shown above)). As with most of Handsome bikes, it comes decal free with an extensive decal packet included. The frame has clearance for 700 x 40 tires without fenders and 700 x 35 with fenders (700 x 32 stock on the complete). What sets the Fredward apart from most single speeds on the market is its ability to morph into other styles of bikes. The frameset is set to take 3 speed internal rear wheels with it’s downtube and chainstay cable guides for the shift cable. Internally geared or single speed coaster brakes are welcome also with its built-in coaster brake tab. For those not running canti or linear pull brakes, the brake bosses are removable. It also has front and rear rack mounting capabilities for those wishing to carry heavy cargo.

Availability and Pricing

This first run of the Minneapolis built Fredward is available only as long as supplies last and is very limited indeed. We are only making 60 of these on the first run. Customers are encouraged to pre-order this bike through their favorite Handsome dealer or on handsomecycles.com right away. The Fredwards are expected to ship starting March 15th, 2014 with most Authorized Handsome dealers getting only 6 or less. MSRP: $799.95

NOT the most affordable. Check out Detroit Bikes…made in the USA too! Imported from Detroit! I do like the look of the Handsome though…would be sick if they could keep that look/price and be made in the USA.

We are a Handsome dealer and couldn’t be happier with the product, brand and our relationship with the brand. Assembling is a ton more than what a tech at the shop does to get bikes ready for the sales floor…pressing headsets, installing BBs, installing tubes/tires/cabling the bicycle, approximate adjustments….its a good amount of work and we applaud Jesse for stepping up and starting the brand’s move towards more US work in general. We’ve got a load of these on order and are excited to offer them to our customers and tell the Handsome story.

Hi David, Please think of it a little more like this: Apple produces all of the parts for their devices overseas but the parts need to be put together to provide the finished product. A very large percent of the time, Apple pays labor to overseas employees to do that assembly. And even with the entire product being produced and assembled overseas, they are not providing even close to the most affordable product in their category. Would you not agree that if Apple were able to instead, bring those parts over to the US and pay US workers to assemble their iPhones and iPads while keeping their goods at the same price, that would be a good thing for the US labor force and in the end, the US economy in general? We are not saying we have found a way to shift the entire supply chain of our bikes here to the US, but we have shifted the assembly component of the process on this bicycle, and that is a great first step.

About Us

Bikerumor.com is the world’s largest cycling tech blog. Our passion is the products, technology and people that make them. We cover the shiny new things, with in-depth interviews and detailed stories about how the bicycles and components work, plus reviews to see if they live up to the hype. We love learning the technology and celebrating innovation at every level -from crowdfunded start ups to major global brands- and sharing it all here with you!

Want to Contribute?We’re always looking for enthusiastic, positive and talented writers that know their way around both a bicycle and sentence structure. We're also looking for a good Sales person to help grow our business